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#ducktales legacy
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The Animaniacs Shared Universe (A.K.A The Tooniverse)
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It goes deeper than you think!
(I put way too much thought into this lol)
Tier 1 - Mutually Canon (They definitely share a universe)
I'll be separating each property mentioned into tiers (hey I told you I put too much thought into this). This tier is for properties where characters from Animaniacs have shown up in them as themselves, and vice versa. These have to be more than just references. No parodies, knockoffs, cases where the characters exist but are fictional in universe (as in they're not toon actors, they're fictional cartoon characters with no thoughts of their own), etc. These are part of the ASU, no question.
Tiny Toon Adventures
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First, there's the fact that Ralph debuted in Tiny Toon Adventures, before he became a recurring character in Animaniacs, although he was unnamed at the time:
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Then, once Animaniacs started, characters from Tiny Toon Adventures would often make cameos, and Animaniacs characters would cameo in Tiny Toons' post-series specials:
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Before I move on to the next property, although most of the properties mentioned in this post don't always adhere to continuity, I still only want to provide evidence from content that at least could be considered canon, so while I feel obliged to acknowledge the existence of "Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain", given that it isn't canon, it's depiction of how these characters share a universe doesn't really matter.
Pinky and the Brain
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A pretty obvious pick, given that Pinky and the Brain were initially just Animaniacs co-stars before getting their own show:
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Their spin off series has plenty of references to Pinky and the Brain's adventures in Animaniacs. Also, Phar Fignewton, Billie, and other Animaniacs characters all make appearances (with Billie and the Warners appearing multiple times):
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Those in addition to the series finale ("Star Warners"), where the cast of Animaniacs reunite to do a sketch that parodies Star Wars, make it clear that the spin off definitely takes place in the same world as Animaniacs.
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Freakazoid!
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This show is more removed from Animaniacs than the previous two properties, but Wakko and Brain show up in Freakzaoid, and Freakazoid shows up in Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, so it's in the ASU alright.
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Space Jam/Classic Looney Tunes
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I realise that Looney Tunes in general doesn't really have a "universe", just various iterations/reboots. So the versions of the Looney Tunes I imagine exist in the ASU are the ones in the Space Jam movies/classic shorts (or pretty much any version of them that are toon actors in the modern world).
The Looney Tunes appear or are at least mentioned in Animaniacs multiple times:
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Space Jam is alluded to in the Pinky and the Brain episode "Inherit the Wheeze", and the Warners are in Space Jam: A New Legacy (their water tower is even placed in Looney Tunes World in the movie).
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There's also the fact that Tiny Toons is an official Looney Tunes spin off, so presumably if Animaniacs shares a universe with that show the Looney Tunes should therefore exist as toons in the ASU.
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Tier 2 - Implied/Headcanon (They could share a universe)
For cases where Animaniacs or another ASU property implies that they share a universe, but this isn't done the other way round (for example, if a character from the property appeared in Animaniacs, but no characters from Animaniacs appear in their franchise). This can be done via references, cameos, mentions, etc., but they have to come off as more than just references/jokes, they have to imply characters from those properties really do exist. Basically, the Tooniverse may consider them canon, but the feeling isn't mutual (yet, at least).
Mickey Mouse & Friends
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For this franchise, when I say they might "share a universe" it's assuming the context is that Mickey and Friends are also toon actors in the real world, like the Warners, Slappy, Bugs, etc. I'm also including Goof Troop stuff, Donald Duck universe stuff, etc. WB cartoons reference/take shots at Mickey/Disney ALOT, so I'll only talk about a few references that imply that Mickey, Minnie, etc. are real people in Animaniacs.
Slappy mentions attending Daisy Duck’s bar mitzvah in a season 3 segment called "Gimme a Break", so that implies Daisy, and therefore the rest of the gang, really do exist and aren't just fictional characters. She also mentions Huey, Dewey, Louie in the same episode. She mentions these characters while delirious, but one of her gimmicks is being reminded of younger versions of other cartoon stars she's met, so who's to say she hasn't actually met them?
Dot says "Why don't you go bug the kids on Goof Troop?" to a nanny in another season 3 segment called "The Sound of Warners". Again it's just a mention (and a sarcastic one at that), but it does imply that they are real people in their world.
DuckTales has been mentioned a few times; by Pinky in "Opportunity Knox" ("Egad, this is better than a DuckTales episode.") and Yakko mentions the DuckTales reboot in "Suspended Animation - Part 2".
These references alone don't imply Scrooge, the triplets, etc. are real, but alongside the previous references, it does seem to imply that the cast of DuckTales are animated actors in this world too (Animaniacs, the show, exists in-universe too yet the Warners are real people).
All these and more just seem to repeatedly hint that Mickey and his pals are toons in Animaniacs just like the Warners, but since they're from another studio we can't see them onscreen.
This is supported by the possible presence of…
Roger Rabbit
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Ralph greets Roger as he enters the lot in the limo (presumably with Jessica) in Tiny Toon Adventures, and although we don't see Roger's face and he's wearing grey gloves rather than yellow ones, Ralph explicitly refers to him as "Roger":
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He shows up again later:
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OK I admit this one's kind of a cheat because this guy could count as a knockoff (different clothes), but think about it, if he is just supposed to be a knockoff, why hide his face? Why make sure we never see him up close? He's one of the only supposed knockoff characters they do this with. It just implies that this is actually supposed to be Roger, but for the sake of copyright they keep his face away from the camera, since Roger Rabbit is considered a Disney property.
Mickey, Minnie and more appear in WFRR, which goes perfectly with the implication that they are toon actors in Animaniacs. It’s also one of the only properties where both Bugs and Mickey exist (or in Animaniacs' case, Mickey is implied to exist) in the real world as themselves and not parodies or fictional characters. I'm just saying, Animaniacs and Who Framed Roger Rabbit being taking place in the same world would make sense, considering they are both about toons in the real world.
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Plus, Steven Spielberg directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit and even voices the "knockoff". I think it's only fitting the movie that got him invested in directing animation shares a universe with the rest of his animated work.
Tier 3 - Reaches/Outside References (It's possible they share a universe, but unlikely)
For cases where a property implies/shows that Animaniacs/ASU characters exist in their world, but this has not happened the other way round. This tier is also for cases where the property has no canon and hence can't share a universe.
Histeria!
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Some of the character models that were used in Histeria came from Animaniacs (like ones for caricatures of historical figures such as Michelangelo and Ludwig von Beethoven), and some Animaniacs characters are mentioned/seen in Histeria!:
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So why isn't it in Tier 1?
Two reasons. First, in regards to the character models, this seems to be a case where they just reused background character designs rather than intentionally putting an established character in a different show. For example, the World's Oldest Woman was not given a name until Histeria! and was slightly redesigned, and Ludwig von Beethoven has a different voice in Histeria!, so they're not really official appearances of those characters as their Histeria! selves. Yes that's a similar situation to Ralph, but the difference is that the background characters have completely different roles in Histeria! whereas Ralph is the WB security guard in both Tiny Toons and Animaniacs and looks exactly the same (Frank Welker even voices him in both). In the case of the historical figures, two properties depicting the same historical figure does not mean that they share a universe.
As for the Animaniacs references, Histeria has no canon. It's not like Looney Tunes and Space Jam where there's at least a duology of films where one continues the story of the other. There are recurring characters and gags but each episode is completely standalone (different settings, time periods, etc.), unlike most of the other properties which are episodic, but do have continuity (Miss Flamiel is hired in her debut episode and continues to be the Warner's teacher in later episodes, Snowball buys Microsponge in season 1 of PATB and still owns it in season 4, etc.) Histeria! exists in it's own little reality-warping world. Therefore any references to Animaniacs are just that: references.
Teen Titans Go!
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Yes, really.
Starfire mentions that the WB water tower is where "the Animaniacs" live in "Teen Titans GO! To the Movies".
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(Yes they make the mistake of calling the Warners "the Animaniacs" when that name is meant to refer to the entire recurring cast of the show, but to be fair official Animaniacs media has made this same mistake so whatever.)
And before anyone thinks "Well she's an alien who probably doesn't understand that cartoon characters aren't real", TTG is yet another show where toons are actors in the real world. This is confirmed in multiple episodes, such as their Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary special:
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So Starfire knew exactly what she was talking about. The thing is, the Warners themselves don't appear in any episodes of the show, neither inside or outside the water tower. However, the Animaniacs cast may still exist as toon actors in their world. This is implied by:
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TTG'S ACTUAL CROSSSOVER WITH FREAKZOID. Granted, he is sort of treated as a fictional character, but in a meta way that would fit right at home in an episode of Freakazoid. The toon actor reasoning can still apply. The point is he's interacting with the real world and doesn't only exist within a TV screen. However, until TTG itself is referenced in some way in either official Animaniacs media or some other ASU property, these are just references.
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I realise most of these were probably just seen as fun cameos and/or references and nothing more, but the idea of the Warners and Bugs Bunny canonically being co-workers who have known each other for years, or something like Dip actually existing in their world, etc. just feels right. Helps the world seem...larger, and more developed! (Goodnight Everybody!)
Ahem. Anyway, this was post fun to think about, and only slightly less fun to make (f#@% the 30 image per post limit).
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b-dangerous · 1 year
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TRONALD LEGACY
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future! webby: bluff, fluffy, loves showing off lena to otherworldly horrors
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lena thinks that's adorable
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justaboot · 8 months
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Whyyyy have I been seriously thinking about your crack post about Scrooge and Beakley as exes. At first I was like ‘it’s a funny bit’ and now I’m tempted to write a serious fanfic about the implications of this shitpost
Cannot BELIEVE I missed this YEAH YOU GET IT. I don’t remember which scene in the finale it was, but my gf had been pushing her crack agenda for MONTHS, and then that scene came up and we BOTH were like UM??? IS IT…?! And then I think she cold clocked him.
Anyway, represent.
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What other fandoms are you a big fan of other than Darkwing Duck?
I like:
• Five Night’s at Freddy’s (I specifically like Security Breach the most) (a controversial opinion)
• LEGO Ninjago (season 5 is my favorite season)
• Star Wars (I like the Clone Wars 2008 series the most)
• Looney Toons/the Space Jam movies (I actually like the second Space Jam movie more than the first one)
• Back to the Future (hence my name)
• Marvel (Iron Man is my favorite)
• Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (the movies and books)
• Winnie the Pooh (Tigger is my favorite)
• I enjoyed The Dark Crystal Netflix show
• Disney movies and shows
• and the Ducktales reboot (I watched a few episodes of the ‘87 series and I wasn’t a fan) (I do like the movie though)
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thebridgehqs · 2 years
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Welcome to 1925 – Lizzie Saltzman, Will Byers, Apple White, Audrey Hope, Dewey Duck, & Heather Kasuga !! I hope you feel right at home here in Sydney. Before you get too comfortable and see what all our city has to offer, be sure to review our CHECKLIST. We’re so glad to have you with us, Dove !!
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Look who just woke up- is that JENNY BOYD? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s LIZZIE SALTZMAN from LEGACIES. I heard she is 23 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a/an ACTING BETTER THAN HER TWIN, SNARKY REMARKS, HOPELESS ROMANTIC impression. They’re known to be quite EXCITING, but have a tendency to be SNARKY on their bad days. Look who just woke up- is that FROY GUTIERREZ? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s WILL BYERS from STRANGER THINGS. I heard he is 19 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a/an MISSING POSTERS, WILL THE WISE, BIKE RIDING impression. They’re known to be quite HONEST, but have a tendency to be SOFT SPOKEN on their bad days.
Look who just woke up- is that DOVE CAMERON? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s APPLE WHITE from EVER AFTER HIGH. I heard she is 22 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a/an BEING THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL, WANTING TO STICK TO THE STORYBOOK OF LEGENDS, WANTING TRUE LOVE impression. They’re known to be quite LOYAL, but have a tendency to be BOSSY on their bad days.
Look who just woke up- is that EMILY ALYN LIND? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s AUDREY HOPE from GOSSIP GIRL REBOOT. I heard he/she/they is 21 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a/an PARTLY JANE FONDA PARTLY JANE AUSTEN, SWEET KISSES BETWEEN PARTNERS, ALWAYS FOUND READING impression. They’re known to be quite INTELLIGENT, but have a tendency to be SHALLOW on their bad days.
Look who just woke up- is that JOE KEERY? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s DEWEY DUCK from DUCKTALES. I heard they are 23 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a/an HAVING A FAKE TALKSHOW, BEING THE COOL TRIPLET, COULD HAVE BEEN NAMED TURBO impression. They’re known to be quite ADVENTUROUS, but have a tendency to be COCKY on their bad days.
Look who just woke up- is that KAYLEE BRYANT? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s HEATHER KASUGA from TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND. I heard she is 24 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a/an GETTING ALL OF HER HAIR CUT OFF, BACKSTABBING BITCH WHO ISN'T AFRAID OF LOSING FRIENDS, FINALLY WINNING THE MILLION DOLLARS BUT LOSING THE MONEY impression. They’re known to be quite STRATEGIC, but have a tendency to be A BACKSTABBING BITCH on their bad days. (DOVE, 21, THEY/SHE, PACIFIC)
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shychick-52 · 11 months
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Gyro has really had a huge impact on a lot of people's lives in DuckTales. And sadly, he was so overlooked (by both the characters and the production crew)...
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If it hadn't been for his OxyChew supplying Della with oxygen, nutrition, and water, she never would have survived to make it back to her family; the Ducks really owe him a huge debt of gratitude. It honestly bothers me how ungrateful Della was; I mean, I get how horrible it must've been to suffer the taste of black licorice for a decade (and to have the taste permanently stuck in your mouth after that), but c'mon...
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In 'The Most Dangerous Game... Night', if Gyro hadn't shown up with his shrink ray and interfered in the Ducks' game night, Louie- who was questioning how he fit into the family- might not have discovered his talent of seeing all the angles, and how that contributes to the family on their adventures, and how he could use that talent to someday have his own successful business like Scrooge.
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If Gyro hadn't created the armor in the first place (before it became the Gizmoduck armor, back when it was still known as Project Blatherskite and was supposed to be Gyro's ultimate project and solution to regain control over his inventions after they always turn evil), Fenton never would have discovered that his passion for helping others- which he still always loved doing as a scientist, even after becoming Gizmoduck- could also extend to being a superhero. And Gyro actually gave him the new-and-improved model of the armor in the end, which he specifically built for Fenton (self-contained, using Fenton's brain as the core processor this time); granted, that was on Scrooge's orders, and Gyro still thought Fenton was a danger to himself and others in the suit, but the point stands.
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If Gyro and his technology hadn't helped Scrooge get back his gold Rockerduck stole (Gyro happened to be stuck in the Old West with his Time Tub, which was a fortunate coincidence), Scrooge wouldn't have gotten that part of his fortune or that part of his legacy.
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Gyro took Manny on as an intern and gave him his own name- and yes, Frank Angones indeed confirmed he got his name from Gyro, which likely explains why Gyro actually remembers it- allowing our favorite Headless Man-Horse to become more of a normal guy with a normal life like he wanted, instead of just an evil supernatural creature or 'freak'.
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Gyro played a huge part in helping disable the Solego Void before Donald could be erased when Bradford threw him in!
As @sometimes-they-come-back-237 pointed out in a very similar Gyro appreciation post (which I think is such a fun coincidence, and it's so cool more people agree), he saved both Della and Donald, and he deserves a raise (and more respect by Della)!
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disneytva · 6 months
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Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur Serves Season 2 Premiere Date And Teaser Trailer.
Ever since ending on one intense cliffhanger this past May, fans of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur have been wondering when they'll get the chance to see more of Lunella Lafayette and Devil Lafayette.
Super Nova beacuse Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD on February 2, 2024 at 8:00PM EST, before hitting Disney+ the next day.
Season 2 guest stars will include David Tennant ("DuckTales" franchise), Cynthia Erivo ("RoboGobo", Universal Pictures Wicked), Andy Garcia (Elena Of Avalor), Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner 2049), Robin Thede (20th Television Animation "Central Park"), Jonathan Banks (Pixar Animation Studios "The Incredibles 2"), SungWon Cho (Iron Circus Animation "Lackadaisy"), Giancarlo Esposito (LucasFilm "Star Wars: The Mandalorian"), Arsenio Hall (Warner Bros "Black Dynamite"), Ann Harada ("In To The Woods"), Jackée Harry ("Sister, Sister"), Manny Jacinto ("Hailey's On It"), Carol Kane ("Dog Day Afternoon"), Xolo Maridueña (DC Studios "Blue Beetle", "Primos"), Alex Newell ("Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist"), Parker Posey ("Mr. & Mrs. Smith"), Ephraim Sykes ("Hamilton"), and Peter Weller (DC Legacy "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns")
Aadditionaly a special Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur - Theme Song Takeover starring Devil Lafayette will drop on January, 2024.
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labaguetteisdabest · 4 months
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– jameson hawthorne, the hawthorne legacy
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✩ keeper of the lost cities ✩ riordanverse (except kane chronicles) ✩ gifted clans series ✩ project hail mary ✩ the martian ✩ the pandava quintet ✩ osemanverse (except for i was born for this) ✩ the inheritance games ✩ wings of fire (i haven't read in a while tho) ✩ heartless ✩ amari and the night brothers ✩ a good girl's guide to murder (only read book 1 so far) ✩ caraval (only read book 1 so far) ✩ the folk of the air (only read book 1 so far) ✩ harry potter (i don't interact with the fandom much; i hate jkr) ✩ deathcast
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✩ high class homos ✩ just pancakes ✩ our walk home ✩ our corner ✩ live with yourself ✩ homesick ✩ from a knight to a lady (not finished reading) ✩ baby tyrant ✩ lore olympus ✩ heartstopper ✩ don't read this ✩ sunflowers and lavender ✩ crow time (not finished reading) ✩ the d!ckheads ✩ loving reaper ✩ go away romeo (not finished reading) ✩ hyperfocus ✩ the recloseted lesbian ✩ meow are you?
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✩ hamilton ✩ ducktales 2017 ✩ rise of the guardians ✩ luca ✩ bluey ✩ percy jackson and the olympians ✩ heartstopper ✩ avatar the last airbender (i'm on s1 ep4 lmao) ✩ the amazing digital circus ✩ pokemon (sorta? the only anime i've watched is the indigo league and i haven't even finished watching it lol. i'm more of a game player and even then it's just legends arceus and scarlet) ✩ marvel (not anywhere NEAR done watching)
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alex31624 · 14 days
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The kids have the time of their lifes in…
This is a really simple fic, just the gang hanging out together. What I would had love the most to see in a hypothetical Ducktales season 4, is May and June being normal kids with the rest of the gang (as normal as the McDuck kids can be). This fic was born with that desire in mind.
"A Duck's Life" series
Part 1 - You and Me
Part 2 - Fishing Day
Part 3 - One of Us
Part 4 - Legacy
Part 6 - Para Ti
Part 7 - Es Quien Soy
Part 8 - Crónicas del Día a Día
Part 9 - Definitivamente no es una Cita
What if...? (One-shots, in spanish for now)
A Good Team (Louie and Violet love story)
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thiaquiche · 4 months
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Feedback Fest 2024
Since the @transformativeworks is holding a Feedback Fest in honour of International Fanworks Day, I figured I’d join in the fun and put together my own reclist for the occasion! So, in no particular order, here’s ten fics I love and why you should read them! I’ve got a wide spread of fandoms here, so hopefully you’ll find something interesting. I have all of these fics downloaded, so if you’re seeing this in the future and a link to something you’re interested in ends up broken, just let me know and I’ll gladly send you a pdf.
Something’s Wrong with Danny Fenton Vol. I by Perfectly_Inconspicuous
Danny Phantom. Mature, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gen. 55 065 words.
Danny Fenton.
The enigma of Casper High.
It's the first day of the winter semester when she notices him.
She notices him for what feels like the first time. Maybe because at this point he's the only alternative kid other than her.
Or maybe because boom, there he is: the locker next to hers.
--
A No One Knows AU where Danny transfers from a different school to Casper during Junior year and ends up befriending Sam and Tucker. Written for Invisobang 2021!
Why you should read it: This fic packs a wonderfully creepy, unsettling atmosphere that really makes this horror!Danny premise come alive (ba dum tss), and makes the development of his friendship with Sam and Tucker feel all the warmer by comparison. It’s incredibly gripping.
Soldier, Poet, King by Stargaze_Sunflower
Ducktales 2017. Teen and Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen. 104 510 words.
Dewey has always felt like something was missing from his life. Something big. And really, it's just like him to get caught up in a kidnapping plot and stumble across the puzzle of his life on complete accident, and now he's got more pieces than he knows what to do with. Luckily, he's got help in the form of new friends, his moderate skills with a sword, and the determination to believe in the impossible.
This gives a whole new meaning to 'Found Family'.
Why you should read it: This fic is an awesome medieval fantasy romp, and it’s just plain fun.
Friendship Games by WhiteBAG
Milo Murphy’s Law. Teen and Up Audiences, Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings, Gen. 42 662 words.
Milo and his friends enter the Friendship Games. Dakota and Cavendish time travel to fight the monster.
Why you should read it: Without saying too much, the way the time travel plot winds back on itself is just so much fun. Even now that I’ve left the fandom, and haven’t read this fic in a long time, I still find myself thinking about it.
More Than Legacy by PanellaDePonce
Pokémon. General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen. 11 637 words.
It was time at last for the 150th Annual Convention of Pokémon Sciences to begin. Every year, the brightest minds in the field would gather together to present their findings to an eager audience of burgeoning scientists and casual enthusiasts alike. 150 years ago it started in Jubilife Village, and today, the conference is held in Jubilife City.
Before the conference begins, however, many of the leading researchers gather together to argue and debate, verbally slap fighting and throwing around their theories and ideas. Lucas found this tradition tiring, annoying, and most of all, incredibly boring.
Little does he know, something very interesting is set to happen at the meeting. Something he wouldn't want to miss.
Why you should read it: This thing made me BAWL. I was fucking SOBBING. Waaaaaughhhhhhhhhhh
Give Me Healthy Coping, or Give Me Death by Prince_Enby
OMORI. General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, F/M (past Hero/Mari) and Gen. 5420 words.
There was something weird about how Kel was acting, Hero thought. Hero's thoughts were all over the place these days, though, so that observation probably didn't mean anything.
Still, though, he was curious about that glint in his brother's eyes. It was the look of a man on a warpath - and all over a bowl of soup.
Weird indeed.
Why you should read it: This fic is chicken soup when I’m sad, and I wanna share the comfort, plain and simple.
Mari Suzuki’s Overly Busy Afterlife by ShardOfHope
OMORI. Teen and Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, M/M (Basil/Kel/Sunny), F/F (Aubrey/Kim), and F/M (Hero/Mari). 127 480 words.
Mari never left Sunny after the accident. She forgave him and promised she would stay until he was ready to tell the truth. Until he was strong enough.
Four years of staying with her gremlin shut in brother has made her slightly regret that promise. Well, more then slightly.
A retelling with a ghost, and a brother with no survival instinct.
Why you should read it: This fic is riotously funny. Like, wheezing on the floor funny. Rolling around, falling down the stairs and breaking your neck funny. (Yes I did have to force a stairs joke in there. Sue me, but sue me after you read this fic.)
Coming to Light by Candyland1030 [DeviantArt]
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. PG. 2819 words.
What goes around comes around. Sooner or later, everyone has to pay the piper.
Why you should read it: This is my favourite fic for seeing Bill Hawks get his comeuppance. A delicious dose of justice for a guy who got off far too easily in canon.
Theo’s Surreal Mountain-Climbing Adventure by CelestialHorizons (TerminalMiraculosis)
Celeste. Teen and Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply, Gen. 5519 words.
Madeline has been able to dash her whole life. She thinks this is rather mundane. Theo disagrees.
Why you should read it: Extremely funny depiction of speedrunning, also Theo is simply best boy. You agree. Read it.
An Empire of Ice by TimeCloneMike
Frostpunk. Mature, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gen. 4621 words.
The Great Frost has come and gone. That was the easy part. Rebuilding human civilization? That's when things start to get difficult, even with automatons to do all the heavy lifting.
Why you should read it: Both oneshots are great, but I especially recommend the second chapter. The story of Project Legacy saving New Manchester in the actual game has always been touching to me, and this fic’s depiction of the rescue of New Manchester’s last scout gives me warm fuzzies every time. Both parts of this fic add a human element to the game’s more zoomed-out storytelling that I deeply appreciate.
Marital Bed, by MadameReveuse
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. Mature, No Archive Warnings, Multi (Randall Ascot/Angela Ledore/Henry Ledore). 3526 words.
A comedy in two parts.
The Masked Gentleman imagines all the ways in which Henry and Angela Ledore might have backstabbed him. Later, Randall sees it all with clearer eyes. Maybe his fantasy can still come true - in an altogether better, lovelier way. With himself included.
Why you should read it: I don’t normally talk about, let alone recommend, sexually explicit fics, but I read this one recently and just fell in love with the characterization. Considering sex in the context of Randall’s misguided hatred and Angela and Henry’s deceptive marriage adds an interesting layer to their whole *gestures* everything, and I found all of the headcanon ideas presented very plausible. However, warning for Azran Legacy spoilers offhandedly mentioned right at the beginning.
Bonus:
This awesome Miracle Mask AMV that has been so stuck in my head lately, lol. Editing’s great, song’s great, all around great. (Don’t watch unless you’ve finished Miracle Mask though, it’s spoilers.)
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blorbo-adoption-poll · 9 months
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The preliminaries are now over, final results are in.
Here is the final list of every character that made it into the tournament. This is not the bracket list, that will come later. The numbers are just there to help me keep the list straight.
1: Penny Polendina (RWBY)
2: Penny Lamb/Jane Doe (Legoland / Ride the Cyclone)
3: Penny Crygor (WarioWare)
4: Penny Fitzgerald (The Amazing World of Gumball)
5: Penny (Papa Louie's Freezeria)
6: Penny (Bigtop Burger)
7: Penny Proud (The Proud Family)
8: Penny Nichols (Ace Attorney)
9: Penelope Eckhart (Villains are Destined to Die)
10: Penny Pig (Marks and Spencer’s)
11: Penny “Grams” Halliwell (Charmed)
12: Penelope (Barbie as Rapunzel)
13: Penny Luckstone (Dimension 20)
14: Penny (Pokémon)
15: Pennywise (It)
16: Penny (Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog)
17: Penny (American Girl Dolls)
18: Penelope Park (Legacies)
19: Penny Spender (Paranatural)
20: Lieutenant Penumbra “Penny” (Ducktales)
21: Penny (SpongeBob)
22: Alfred Pennyworth (DC Comics)
23: Penny Pingleton (Hairspray)
24: Penelope (Hamtaro)
25: Monkey Penny (Spy Fox)
26: Penelope (The Odyssey)
27: The Coin “Boss” (Blaseball)
28: Penny Farthing (Sylvanian Families)
29: Penny (Stardew Valley)
30: Vanja Schmidt/ Red Penny Thief (Little Thieves)
31: Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
32: Peni Parker (Edge of the Spider-Verse
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scottpetersen · 30 days
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Honestly, I think that both Gyro and Fenton and Webby, Lena and Violet would like to take a look at lightsabers and holocrons. After all, as shown in the Star Wars The Clone Wars episode ‘A Test Of Strength’, lightsabers are pieces of technology that are powered by Kyber Crystals which, as shown in the episode ‘The Gathering’, are powered by the Force which is practically a magic-like energy and holocrons, as shown in the Darth Bane Path Of Destruction novel, are also pieces of technology that are powered by the Force. And as shown in the episode ‘Beware The B.U.D.D.Y. System!’, Gyro and Fenton are scientists and, as shown in the episode ‘Friendship Hates Magic!’, Webby, Lena and Violet are quite enthusiastic when it comes to the magical. So, it would make sense that both a team of scientists and a team of magic enthusiasts would like to take a look at lightsabers and holocrons. And given that, as stated in the Star Wars Uprising video game, Kyber Crystals are able to channel energy and generate enormous returns, Gyro and Fenton might try to see if Kyber Crystals can be used as a new energy source. And, if they do, I think that Gyro and Fenton might try to use a Kyber Crystal to power up the Gizmoduck Armor and, given that Kyber Crystals are powered by the Force, that might make the Gizmoduck Armor more powerful. Also, as shown in the Ahsoka novel, Kyber Crystals that were previously corrupted by the Dark Side Of The Force can be purified by someone who is aligned with the Light Side and become aligned with the Light Side Of The Force again and thus cause the lightsaber blade to change color since lightsaber blade colors depend on the Kyber Crystal. This also means that lightsaber blade colors sometimes also depend on the personality of the user. So, given that, as shown in the episode ‘Friendship Hates Magic!’, Violet is quite curious when it comes to the mystical, I think that she would be curious to see what happens if Lena were to try to purify a previously corrupted Kyber Crystal with her magic. I think that the result would be that the lightsaber blade color would be grey and pink. Grey because of the fact that, as shown in the episode ‘The Split Sword Of Swanstantine!’, Lena is willing to embrace negative emotions as well as positive emotions and pink because of the fact that, as shown in the episode ‘The Shadow War Part 2: The Day Of The Ducks!’, Lena has a loving bond with Webby which helped her stand up against Magica De Spell. Also, I think that Webby would love to spar with Lena and help her practice using a lightsaber as I pointed out in my How I Think Certain DuckTales (2017) Characters Would Wield A Lightsaber post since Webby is, as shown in the episode ‘From The Confidential Casefiles Of Agent 22!’, a combat enthusiast.
As for the holocrons, I think that Gyro and Fenton would like to study holocrons because of the fact that they are devices that seem to be more responsive to certain emotions than other emotions like how, as shown in the Star Wars Rebels episode ‘The Holocrons Of Fate’, Jedi Holocrons are more responsive to the positive emotions of a Force user while Sith Holocrons are more responsive to the negative emotions of a Force user. So, I think that Gyro and Fenton would like to see if there’s a way to use a Jedi Holocron’s technology’s responsiveness to positive emotions to keep Gyro’s bulb tech from turning evil. And I think that Webby, Lena and Violet would like to study holocrons too to see how they work. However, they would have a much harder time studying Sith Holocrons. After all, as shown in the Darth Bane Path Of Destruction novel, holocrons have Gatekeepers which are AI with the personality of the person who created the holocron and, as shown in Legacy (2006) #5, it’s not easy to gain information from Sith Gatekeepers since Sith aren’t always quick to share their knowledge. Also, Sith Holocrons are dangerous since, as shown in the Star Wars Legacy Of The Jedi novel, just looking through a Sith Holocron was sometimes enough to traumatize and make a Jedi Youngling sick. Webby and Violet might not be effected by it since they’re not Force-sensitive but I’m not so sure about Lena. After all, Lena may not technically be Force-sensitive but she is a magical being since, as shown in the episode ‘The Shadow War Part 1: The Night Of De Spell!’, she is a living shadow. And magic is somewhat similar to the Force. Webby and Violet might have to make sure that Lena isn’t even in the same room just to make sure she’s safe from any Sith Holocrons they might try to look at.
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popculturebuffet · 8 months
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Disney 100th Birthday Special: Top 12 Disney Television Animation Shows
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Happy Birthday all you happy people! And it's a very special birthday as it's the 100th anniversary of a company that, while I routinely mock on a regular basis for impaling themselves about a dozen time a year, has brought me a lot of joy. It was a 100 years ago that the wonderful world of disney began and 100 years later it's still bringing us some of the finest and funnest animation around and will likely continue for a hundred more as they create a whole disney planet serving up mickey shaped foods for all time around a disney owned star.
So before we can look forward to happiest dystopian future off earth, I thought hard about what I wanted to do for the 100th. I've covered disney a LOT on this blog: season 3 of ducktales AND the arcs for the two seasons before that, seasons 2 and 3 of both amphibia and owl house, classics like the Lion King and A Goofy Movie, a whole year worth of house of mouse reviews, shorts, various comics great and donald being pro illteracy.. the list could go on for an entire article itself.
So while I had PLENTY of options, from a shorts marathon to another movie, I decided the best way to honor this occasion was by focusing on a portion of disney near and dear to my heart: Disney TV Animation.
Way Way Back in the 1980s, DisneyTVA was formed by fresh faced executive overlord Michael Eisner. Eisner was looking to expand his new empire, and found a clever way to do it. See at the time while there were certainly good cartoons, most had the budget of a paper clip and a piece of string. It's why Disney took this long to get into the game: Walt thought he just coudln't get the quality needed on a tv budget and while he WANTED to at some point, he passed before that could happen.
Many laughed at this decision, citing it as a huge money sink waiting to happen.
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Yeah critics not taking animation or kids watching it seriously isn't new and assuming they'll just watch anything is laughable. Yes low budget shows like Transformers got plenty of views... but transformers also put in high quality voice actors and intriguging designs. Take both of those and make the animation bouncier, and kids would notice.
And they did: The first Disney TVA show, Gummi Bears, was a massive success, leading to the planet sized one that was Ducktales and a whole legacy of classic shows.
There is a double edged sword here though: While most of these shows are high quality and well loved.. Disney tends to.. ignore they exist. They don't make merch, think adult and teenage fans aren't a think, and when it comes to merch don't usually tend to make it for these shows during or after their runs. There are exceptions and they are reviving stuff.. but disney has a bad habit to prefer cashing in on nostalgia than on what they have now unless it fits their narrow perameters
For me though.. Disney TVA is home to some of the best, most game changing shows in the medium. From shows I grew up with to shows that sadly just ended, Disney has made a ton of shows permeanntly embded in my heart. My doctor says I should get that removed but what does he know. At this studio are creators who are passionate, create unique works, and work very hard to stand out. Even when shows get slapped with the dreaded 2 season limits, they still stick in our hearts not just because of that nostlaagia pop disney wants, but because they were just that good and still hold up into adulthood. I've covered a lot of this library, owe my career to these shows and will never sotp being impressed by them.
So out of the 42 i've seen I whittled it down by 30 which was way harder than it sounded down to the very best. A few shows like Gargoyles I sadly just.. hadn't watched, so if something's missing it was either that or a very hard cut. Whlie the top 8 was shockingly easy, it was hard to narrow this list down to the very best. I'd also like to point out that this is my opinon: feel free to send me your own lists, i'd be curious to see how your own personal experinces shaped yours. But for now this is mine... and this is my top 12 best disney telvision animation shows.
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12. The Weekenders Created by Doug Landale 2000-2004 4 Seasons, 76 episodes
Our #12 is a childhood faviorite of mine.. and also one of the two shows your most likely to hear me bitch about disney+ not having. IT'S BEEN ALMOST 4 YEARS.
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But bitch complaning about disney being disney aside, the Weekenders is a charming classic that needs more eyes on it and it's weird I haven't covered frankly.
At any rate Weekenders is a slice of life show with a good yet simple hook: it follows 4 middle schoolers, Tino, Carver, Lor and Tish, as through their weekends from Friday after school to monday morning. It allows for the show to do pretty much whatever it wants, and what it wants is to be a fairly lowkey slice of life show. The only really zany element that I can remember, or that I saw in ToonrfiqTariq's excellent retrospective of the series, which you can find here, is main character Tino, a sarcastic but kind guy played by voice acting royalty James Marsden, talking to the audience zack morris style, which is really just a neat way to move things along so it's not that obtrusive. I highly recommend that retrospective by the way. Tariq is awesome and it helped jog my memory on the show.
The series is a fairly low stakes affair: our heroes have a fairly typical problem, they talk it out or deal with it as the weekend goes on, and at least once an episode they go for pizza at an ever changing pizza restraunt with a fun new gimmick each episode, something I loved already as a kid but love even more NOW as an adult knowing that gag was likely a LOT to do. Keep in mind they had to draw new backgrounds, exteriors, and a new costume for the guy running it every time. It's the kind of joke you think a series would've given up on for those reasons but nope, every episode has one.
Weekenders is a throughly charming slice of life show, helped by it's characters: In addition to tino we have the egotistical Carver (Phil LaMarr) thickheaded jock Lor (Grey DeLise) and immigrant nerd and vegtarian Tish. While the four coudl've easily fallen into their sterotypes there's just enough depth to the cast to make them work. Tish in paticular was my faviorite, not only being one of the first immigrant stories in a show I saw that was largely respectful and not just
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It's a great show I genuinely wish I had more to say about. Find it somehow if you can, it's entirely worth it.
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11. Phineas and Ferb Created By Dan Povmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh 2007-2015, 20XX- 129 Episodes, 2 Movies, Upcoming Revival
At a time when kids animation wasn't in the best place, Phineas and Ferb was the smash hit we all badly needed. Done by vetran creators and Rocko's Modern Life Alums, Phineas and Ferb was a fun, creative show about two boys who simply wanted to make the best out of summer... and happened to be child progidys only limited by their immgination, so they could do anything and the utterly catchy theme song helpfully outlined it. Having only watched the first three or four seasons, I still don't know if they ever found Frankensteins' Brain. It was over there.
While the a-plots with the boys were great most of the time and had a great supporting cast: Helpful scout Isabella, shrill voiced nerd Baljeet and bully turned buddy Buford, the real draw for most of us was the b-plot: each episode the boys Platapus Perry would sneak out, don a fedora and foil the plots of his arch enemy and best buddy Heinz Doofenschmirtz, an awkward mad scientest who rather than therapy decides to deal with the many, MANY traumas in his life by building various inators and talking to Perry. Their shenanigans inevitibly undo whatever our heroes did in time for their mom to never notice and just think their sister Candance needs help as she tries to bust them.
The show mostly used this loop for it's lengthy run, ocasionally mixing up the setting by visiting the kids grandparents or with a special, but it mostly went like this. This started as the shows strength as the repitition allowed them to REALLY play with the formula: lampshade it, subvert it, and play with it. Sometimes Perry would go to foil doof but it ended up being something benign like Doof trying to do a party for his Daughter or go on a date. Sometimes the boys would genuinely be trying to help Candance or she'd have her own concerns outside of bustin making her feel good. The show packed this with tons of lampshade hanging, catchy songs (after an early one made the network want it once an episode), and genuine heart. It's hard not to root for Phineas and his optimism and genuine cheer. Depsite "driving our sister insane" being a main lyric.. the kid has nothing but love in his heart for his sister and that simple goal of just wanting to do something fun or help someone each day makes this one of the sweeetest shows around.
So your probably wondering why it's so low. And it's really simple: it's constant status quo.. kind of wore it out for me. After a while there was no real reason for Linda NOT to know the boys were doing this. We never got any indication she'd care beyond "Maybe wear a helmet" or "Have candace watch you", neither of which would really STOP what they do every day. While Across the Universe was a great movie it having a MASSIVE snapback at the end is what eventually got me out of the show. It was hard to invest when the show wasn't willing to really change anything. In hindsight I do get some shows just function better as status quo shows and my bitterness has lessened and it's why this show ended up making the list: it's status quo could be frustrating.. but no one had more fun playing with it at the time than these two kids. And the hunchbacked old man what fights/is common lawed married to their platypus.
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10. American Dragon: Jake Long Created by Jeff Goode Developed by Eddie Guzelian and Matt Negrete 2005-2007 2 Seasons, 52 Episodes AmDrag was part of the teen superhero boom on kids shows in the 2000's. Classics like Danny Phantom, My Life as a Teenage Robot, El Tigre and more came about at this time, with disney only dipping it's toes in twice with this show and another we'll get to soon enough.
That said.. American Dragon is an excellent show, mostly down to it's core: The show follows the titular Jake Long, a guy who on surface, from rapping part of his theme to his frosted tips to his skateboard comes off very much like an energy drink came to life and starred in it's own show. Which given the 2000's i'm very suprised never happened. But jake is somehow likeable.. he's a bit arrogant sure, but his arrogance is only in his skill: He genuinely does try his best as protector of new york, cares about his friends and cares heavily about his crush Rose. He's got a heart to him beneath the layers of axe body spray and Dante Basco's standout performance, what would easily have been his defining role as a VA had avatar not come along soon after, helps make this guy feel human.
What also helps boost it's show is it's myth arc. Like Danny Phantom a year before it, AM Drag breaks from the style of the time to have a dedicated arc and continuity. There's plenty of monster of the week stuff, some better (like the oracle twins, easily my faviorite side characters , who also have the fun gimmick of one being super cheery yet predicting horrible things and the other being jaded but seeing only good, with their powers being why (If you see every good thing that you'll ever get it makes it hard to enjoy them and if you see every possible horrible thing that happens to you, it makes the other stuff easier to swallow), some worse, and that can be a weaker part of the show.
But it's core arcs are what make the show it's most intresting. For the first season and a half we have the shows best: Jakes battles with the huntsclan, the foot clan.. if they were violent racists who slaughter magical creatures. Granted we don't SEE that on screen but the show does a good job showing us that no, that's what they are.
This itself would likely work.. but what makes it special and standout for the time it came out.. is the wrinkle they throw in: Huntsgirl, the Huntsclan's #1 guy and sidekick to the huntsman.. is Jake's crush Rose, a fairly well adjusted kind girl who simply dosen't know what she's been indoctrinated into, thinking Dragons are evil. This is a nice change of pace as at the time most relationships with teens and tweens in cartoons were either between some popular slab of cardboard of the characters best friend.
Instead Rose SEEMS to be the cardboard type.. but not only has depth outside of the hood, but the fact the audience can easily tell who huntsgirl is, Mae Whitman has a distinctive voice after all and as usual does a fantastic job only adds the tension: We know who rose is, but Jake doesn't and early on we don't know how much of her is real. And once the secret breaks we get the drama of both dealing with not only being on opposite sides but Rose realizing she was on the wrong one.
The arc after, focusing on a dark dragon isn't as strong in comparison, but it's also not entirely fair given they likely though they'd have another season and a half to wrap it up proper. That being said the series also has an interesting arc with Jake's overachieving younger sister, who goes from knowing about the dragon thing (his whole family does minus his dad for.. some reason) and showing some powers.. to being a dragon herself and often her brother's sidekick.
The show had it's weaknsesses, outside of the big bads there was never really much of an interesting Rogue's Gallery, Trixie felt a bit flat as a character, and again there was no good reason Jake's dad shouldn't know so we got stupid groundings and such. But we also got a compelling enemies to lovers arc with a lot of tension, a nice mythology, and profressor rotwood, Jakes teacher and magic hunter, a fun butt monkey for the show. It's a solid show that i'd love to see get a revivial.
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9. Wonder Over Yonder Created by Craig McCracken 2013-2016 43 Episodes
Wonder Over Yonder is one of Disney's more infamous cancelations. Despite being DisneyXD's #1 show they not only barely promoted it, I wasn't aware the second season was going on till it was almost over and still need to get around to watching it, Disney cancelled it. Despite being well loved Disney cancelled it. It's not the worst cancellation on this list, that comes later, but it's still a pretty dang bad one. The fact they didn't put the show on Disney+ for some time dosen't exactly help.
Why Disney hated this show so much I'll never know as Wonder is one of the most heartfelt and creative show's disney put out. And keep in mind as I said i've only seen season 1. I know it gets even better with season 2's dedicated story arc and the introdcution of lord dominator. I've seen the musical number.
Wonder took inspiration from, of all things, dr. seuss, with Craig being an admitted fan of 60's and 70's astetics already, it just flowed naturally as we got the tail of a gentle tumbleweed whose kind and thoughtful to everyone he meets wether they desreve it or not and his tough as nails steed and best friend sylvia. The rolls are easily the best of Jack McBrayer and April Winchel's long careers, nicely contrasting each other in perfect ballance: Sylvia fights the battles wonder can't win with kindness or is too oblvious to realize he's in, Wonder wins fights simply by being too cheery and oblivious to beat.
Over their journey's they repeadtely run into our other main characters, Lord Hater, played by the awesome Keith Fergeuson, an over the top skeletial manchild who badly wants to be taken seriously but is too impulsive, stupid, and easily angered for him to actually achieve that depsite the help of Commander Peepers, his #2 and put upon lackey. Add in tons of great sets, fun scnearios and creative uses of animatoin and you have something unforgitable. McCracken really loves to play with storytelling here, from your standard genre breaks to simply taking a conventional tale like a kinight rescuing a princess.. and turn it into our heroes accidently assitating a stalking jerk and said princess easily clocking him one before they can all unite to save him. The show had so much fun with it's cast and heart in it it's really hard not to like and while it sadly ended too soon what we got... is something magical.
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8. Clerks the Animated Series Created by Kevin Smith 2000 6 Episodes Like most of you are as you read this entry, I was suprised to find Disney TVA made this. To date this is Disney's only adult animated series, and the fox acquisition giving them a full studio for that tells me it'll likely stay this way unless they do something actiony for disney +. It's also far and away the shortest lived show on this list. only airing two of it's 6 produced episodes, neither of which was the actual first episode. ABC didn't like what they got, they buried it, standard corprate procedure, and thanks to DVD and Comedy Central airings the show went from quickly forgotten weird relic to one of the best animated adaptations out there and one of the poster children for shows too good to last.
I grew up with this show. Since I was too young for the kevin smith movies my brother was obessed with, the series was the first Kevin Smith related thing I ever watched and it's stayed with me since. The show's short.. but it's 6 episodes are absolutely STUFFED with great jokes. I could honestly spend the rest of the article quoting this series, from "Hey, it's ted danson" to "Why are we walking like this" to "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit you old hag!".... and that's just the second episode. Admitely in terms of tone, Clerks TAS.. is nothing like the movie. The original Clerks was a fairly low key film mostly driven by our leads Dante and Randall's conversation and the various people who came in. It was a character piece about being stuck in a dead end job, about ignoring rules versus blindly following them, and about two stoners who were in it for 5 minutes but became the backbone of this cinematic universe because their the best.
Clerks the Animated Series instead is a gleefully wacky romp where our heroes can't say fuck but do get into sitcommy hyjinks, from clipshows, to a rival buisness across the way, to the deadly motava virus, to a pastiche of the last starfighter turning into a pastiche of the bad news bears then a pastiche of temple of doom. As you can tell this show is kinda nuts and really just Kevin Smith getting to be all kinds of redicluous in the funniest way possible. He replaced being able to say fuck and talk about sex with hyjinks and turned randall from a charming if assholish slacker into one of the best dumbasses in animation. The show is a near constant laugh riot, beautifully animated too. It also naturally has the boys, with Jay and Silent bob still getting in lots of neat antics even if they can no longer deal on screen. Clerks the Animated series is one of the funniest shows there's ever been and I highly recommend seeking it out.
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7. Milo Murphy's Law Created by Dan Povemire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh 2016-2017, 2019 46 Episodes
Meet the show disney somehow treated WORSE than the last two. I swear when I put this list together I did not realize these three would be clustered together.
But yes, when I said there was a worse cancelation I meant it: Milo Murphy's Law was the dwampy duo of Phineas and Ferb.. and got utterly buried because Disney was mad it wasn't the mega hit that show was, forgetting that was also a fairly slow burn, or that you kow THIS IS A DIFFRENT SHOW. So they not only barely promoted the second half of season 1.. but then just sat on season 2 for a full year, with many an episode airing elsewhere long before that and released it over a few weeks. They then just.. straight up ended production to make a phineas and ferb movie. In fact despite a full soundtrack apparently existed only ONE song's gotten released from the show in full thanks to said movie's soundtrack. To say Disney screwed this show over is putting it lightly.
And it's a huge shame this show got buried as it did as Milo.. is freaking awesome. I mean I gave it a shot from episode one simply because it had Weird Al attached. Even if i'd gotten burned out on the previous show, i'll give anything Al's in a shot.
And that shot was worth it as from the first episode to the last, Milo is a truly charming show with, say it again ya'll, "a truly unique premise" . Disney has a knack for those don't it?
MML follows Milo Murphy, a happy go lucky 6th grader who meets new kid in town Zack.. who soon finds out Milo has a family curse, based on, of course, Murphy's Law; if something can go wrong, it will. So the universe bends over backwords to try to murder this tween and anyone around him... hence why while everyone likes Milo well enough, only his feisty hustler best friend Melissa really hung around before Zack took a chance on his new pal.
What makes the series great though is that Milo... dosen't ever angst about having murphy's law. You'd think with his life being a constant never ending string of disaster dominos, the guy would give up or we'd have one episode of him bedguging all he's missed out on. Instead.. Milo sees his life as an adventure, enjoys in the shenanigans he gets into and simply packs his backpack to be prepeared and keep his spleen in tact. He's a sweet, kind, optimist who helps people no matter what and dosen't let his curse get him down or stop him from living his life. It's milo that makes the show this good, having to both work around his jinx as well as many an adventure coming from people's reaction to him: From his love intrest Amanda intitally avoiding him due to being a perfectionist only to let him in more once she realizes what a kind guy he is, to the local security guard played byc hristan slater being an absolute dick to him, we see how it impacts his life.. but how he also enjoys his life regardless.
The series also has it's own perry equilvent, Dakota and Cavendish, who genuinely drive the seasons story arcs, two time policeman and ambigously gay duo who try to prevent pistachos from being destroyed.. then do the opposite once i'ts clear it'll cause the end of the world. They add to the story.
What puts this show up here, and way above phineas is that it's not afraid of change: the basic status who dosen't, but the show has a story arc for each season, characters grow and change with Zack getting more used to the chaos around his bestie, the relationship with amanda I mentioned, and most importantly Dakota and Cavindish finding out about milo fairly early on and vice versa, allowing their plots to intersect. It's also really damn funny.
Honestly the show's only this low because the top 6 are REALLY that good.. and because season 2 kinda crams Dr. Doofinschrmitz in there on what feels heavily like an executive mandate. Sometims he cab be a bit overbearing.. but the show's still up this high because frankly, Doof was the best part of his previous show and still gets a LOT of great material, paticuarlly this bit.
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Also his friend there is Jeff. Jeff is a man who lives underground. He's great. And this series is, badly underated. I can't wait to see these characters again as it's been directly said that while their tabling it for the first two seasons apperances by characters from the previous two shows aren't off the table for hamster and gretel, they just learned from this one to wait, but while I wait.. what we got.. is still damn magical.
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6. Kim Possible Created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle 2002-2007 4 Seasons, 82 Episodes, 2 Movies, 1 Live Action Reboot Film
Kim Possible was one of my faviorite shows as a kid, and for good reason. Even over two decades later, the show still holds up as a smart, hilarious, and well done spy show. I also will gladly count it as part of the teen superhero boom as it hits a lot of those tropes too.
The setup however is nicely unique: Rather than work for a big spy orginzation (Though she does freelance in a few episodes for SHIELD expy Global Justice), or for money or what you'd expect from a world class adventuerer and super spy, Kim is just an above average teen whose fairly smart, popular and really damn good at both gymnastics and kicking people who does the job because it's the right thing to do and her organization is really just four people: herself, Wade, a child progidey who finds jobs for her, Ron, her best friend, eventual love interest, and overly panicky but loveable goofus, and Ron's pet Rufus who counts because he saves their lives quite a bit simply by being in ron's pocket and being smart enough. He's also a naked mole rat and the reason I know those exist.
While the show has a strong supporting cast with screen legends Gary Gole and Jean Smart as Kim's Rocket Science and Neurosurgeon parents, her annoying twin brothers, her sarcastic best girl friend monique, her annoying rival bonnie and my personal faviorite her authorative yet still resonable and utterly hilarious teacher Mr. Barkin, played by my boy Patrick Warburton, one of it's biggest strengths is Kim's Rogue's gallery.
Like I said with americna dragon a lot of the weakness for these teen hero shows is that they genuinely only have one or two major foes that are actually you know.. memorable. In contrast Kim has a LOT of intresting and fun villians of the week, not a huge pool but enough to keep it intresting with plenty of fun one offs. The main one is Dr. Drakken, played by John Dimaggio in one of his best parts and Shego, played by Nicolle Sulivan in her best role, an over the top , hammy shortsighted blue mad scientest and his snarky assitant who does most of the punching and is easily kim's physical equal. The two show up the most out of Kim's rogues, and while this on paper could get reptitive the two's banter is great, they play off our heroes fantastically, and they frankly never seemed to run out of great schemes for Dr. D to do.
There were other greats too, my personal faviorites being Senior Senior Senior and Senior Senior Junior, character actor Ricardo Montalban in his best role as a rich old man who after accidently blacking out paris, takes ron's suggestion he had all the makings of a super villian to heart and using his vast wealth to arch our heroes for fun while Junior.. badly dosen't want any part of this. Ther'es tons more I could gush about from DNAmy to the bebes, to my boy Frugal Lucre, a guy who works at a wallmart expy and barely spends money on his arching suplies.
The show's other weapon is it's writing: it's clever, hilarious, and the main duo are incredibly likeable: Kim is incredibly compitent but just as prone to teen angst as anyone her age, while Ron is incredibly panicky and goofy but far more compitent than he seems or he thinks himself to be. Our leads, Kristy Carlson Romano and va god Will Fridle in my faviorite role of his, have an effortless chemstriy between them, even before it turns romantic. You see how valuable their friendship is and how much they need each other even when they bicker.. and it turning romantic just feels.. natural. There's a risk there, and i'll likely go more into tha twhen I eventually cover so the drama (Either later this year if I can squeeze it in or early next year), but needless to say their the gold standard for friends to lovers and I love them.
The show is just.. damn good and worth checking out if you haven't. It's on Disney+ , all of it including the reboot film which is.. alright. not as good as the series but thanks to great casting and the creators involvment , still solid. Call it, beep it, reach it, it's a masterpiece and I badly hope those revivial rumors are true as i'd love to see this cast as adults.
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5. Amphibia Created by Matt Braly 2019-2022 3 Seasons, 58 Episodes
Anoyone whose seem this blog before probably saw this coming. I mean I covered two whole seasons of the show and deeply love it's main cast. And Maddie. God bless my creepy frog daughter. So it being this high up isn't a huge shock.. but damn if it dosen't deserve it. Amphibia isn't perfect: some of the one off episodes, even those important later, aren't the best... but the show still plays one of the best long games in animation. The character arcs are well set up from the get go and we follow our lead Anne Boonchuy from reckless and irresponsible teen plunked into a frog world to a strong empathetic heroine who has to save both worlds from a tyrant and his abusive computer dad. Along the way there's betrayal, slice of life shenanigans, and lots of cleverly done worldbuilding. And some padding. There's just a touch padding. But the strong character arcs not just for Anne but her friends (With Sasha being my easy faviorite but Marcy not exactly far behind and complex and engaging enough to get her own spinoff journal), found family and even her earth family. It's a beautifully done three act story: what seems like a lonnnng time spent in the rural town of Wartwood ends up not only buliding up the show's supporting cast but characters who are vital to the world's salvation later. The second season shows how far anne has come while also building out the world, continuing Sasha's arc as she spirals further and giving us the glory that is marcy, cumilating in season 3, a fantastic season that reverses the premise to amazing effect and ends with a truly satisfying conclusion.. even if SOME of the getting there is messy. Hey it's #5 for a reason.
IT's a well built, hilarious, and heartfelt human into swamp water story, and one of my faviorites. I only don't say TOO much as I want anyon ewho hasn't to try this themselves. Amphibia is a masterpiece and if you haven't seen it it's WELL worth the binge with one of the best voice casts in animation (Something that's really true for everything from far out), really choice world building, and a satsifying ending. This section may of been short but damn if i don't love this show with a lot of my heart.
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4. Gravity Falls Created by Alex Hirsch 2012-2016 2 Seasons, 40 Episodes
Another fairly obvious pick.. but one I weirdly HAVEN'T covered on this blog. I'll really have to fix that next year. Still just because something's obvious dosen't make it any less true. Gravity Falls is easily one of the most influental animated series of the 2010's, right up there with adventure time in kicking off the animation renaissance of that era and several of it's crew, including Matt Braly from the previous entry and a certain someone else coming up, going on to make stellar shows of their own.
It's rep and influence is well earned: Gravity Falls, like, as i've realized writing this, EVERY show on this list has a very simple elvator pitch: two kids spending the summer with their weird elderly uncle at his toursist trap get into paranormal shenanigans: Dipper as he tries to unwrap the mysteries of their temproary home and Mable as she tries to make friends, find a boy to smooch and genuinely ambles through life. She also gets a pig.
The simple setup belies not only a fairly intriguing mystery with a truly amazing twist halfway through season 2, but a fun arc villian in LIttle Gideon, the con artist next door, town hero and phony psychic, but a one of a kind, memorable and all time great vilian in Bill Cipher, a little triangle man who also happens to be a mad nightmare god trying to get into our dimension whose Chucky levels of deeply disturbing and terrifying as he is incredibly funny and charastmatic.
The rest of the cast is no slouch: Dipper and Mable are incredibly likeable, Wendy is great, played by personal faviorite of mine Linda Cardenlli and criminally underused and Soos, voiced by Hirsch along with Stan, Bill and MANY other characters, is a loveable dum dum 20 something who treats our heroes like surrogate siblings.
The real star of course, and the show stealling heart of the show is Stan Pines, the kids corrupt uncle and one of the most hilarious, and once we learn his deal heartbreaking and suprisingly complex, characters in all of animation. This show is on this list on it's own merits but woudln't nearly be so high without stan, a constant laugh machine, quote factory and powerhouse performance by Hirsch, who despite being new to voice acting steps into it like he's done this for decades. From teaching a bear to drive, to wondering if it's wrong to punch a child to "yes yes burn the child" and of course his greatest folly
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Stan constantly boosts the show by existing. Add in strong character ties, a compelling mystery and, like most shows this high up a hell of a finale, and you have a true classic that understadnably changed animation forever.
Also i'm pretty sure Stan killed at least two people in that clip. No one ever talks about that. I mean I knew he had a body count but still.
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3. Recess Created by Paul Germaine and Joe Ansolabehere 1997-2001 4 Seasons, 65 Episodes, 4 Movies
Recess is the oldest work on this list, ending just before KP and American Dragon started (though it'd air long into their runs as this show ran forever and rightfully so). It was also part of my childhood, airing long after it finished and being tender the whole way through.
Recess is a masterwork: while many a show stuck with me from childhood this is one that thinking back I can remember the episodes vividly, and given my memory is spotty that says something. It's a show with a lot of style, having it's characters dressed out of the 50s and 60s, with a cold war subtext I never had, but keeping it in the present to relate to kids when it's airing. It creates a vibe tha'ts both of it's time (the monstickers ep is very much of the pokemon boom), and timeless (kids STILL collect pokemon cards and despite some morons best efforts have recess and still form little clicks).
It takes two simple things kids grapple with, unfair teachers and authority figures and cliques and social circles and simply blows it up to be as big as it was in our heads: I remember having epic duels with the kids I played with , wars, whole conflicts and recess meets things on that level: the world of recess is one where the playground has a lineage of kings, the kindergartners are a feral tribe, two kids can reguarly acess shovels, and the local snitch is some sort of combination of gollumn and a weasel while keeping it just grounded enough for adults to relate to. Where rebelling against authority involves elaborate heists.
It's a perfect kind of show for kids: it meets them on their level, as it did when I was a kid.. but is smart enough that as an adult you can still enjoy it. It helps that most of the cast is three dimensional:
TJ is a loveable scamp.. but a good chunk of his schemes aren't just to stick it to the man or get some reward for him and his running crew, but to help kids. TJ's just as likely to break out of detention as he is to help a kid this week simply because they need it. He'll even help Randall, the local snitch I mentioned, despite his better judgment, simply because it's the right thing to do. He'll have to be talked into it because.. it's Randall. Randall sucks, But he'll do it. Spinelli is the tomboy of the group and will fight everyone, but has a good side to her and struggles with being a girl when she relates more to being masculine, something that's only become more relevant with time and can be read a lot of ways. Mikey is the big kid.. but a soft kind giant who deals with being sterotyped for his side. Vince is the sports kid... and okay most of his plots are around that, but we do get neat bits like him being ashamed his brother is basically urkel and having to learn his brother still slaps because unlike Urkel he dosen't harass women. Gretchen is a massive nerd, and the first role in Ashely Johnson's long and storied career, but also gladly paticipates in the schemes, has a lot of heart, and struggles.
And finally we have my boy Gus, the new kid at the start and the one I related most to being a nerdy nervous wreck myself: but he's gladly accepted into the rest of the gang, and finds a home at long last after moving around his whole life. He's got layers to him: he's a military brat, he's never really had stablility int erms of friendship, and he's often put upon, having to deal with King Bob being a jerk to him for being the new kid or bullies. Yet he's got a good heart despite being the nervous one of the group the biggest heart of them and will gladly stand up for himself when the chips are down.
Not only are these 6 fleshed out and relatable.. but they have a wholesome friendship. They'll fight sometimes, kids do, but despite being vastly diffrent people who on paper shoudln't really be hanging together.. you never doubt they like each other or would drop everything to help one another. Mostly because a good chunk of episodes are just that. Gretchen and Gus are never picked on by their friends.. teased a little, maybe , Spenelli be like that, but these six kids love and respect each other on level that's just heartwarming. You never doubt for a second these six are friends, even with Gus not having their shared history. He just fits because they like him, he's willing to do what's right, and he's a good kid. TJ is brave and noble, Spnelli is tough but dosen't punch down, Vince is cool, Mikey is insightful and kind, Gretchen is smart and clever and Gus ahs a good heart. You see the good they see in each other and it shows our diffrences.. make us better. There may be cliques at recess, but when the chips are down, TJ can get them to work together.
The series also just had a knack for creating really memorable episodes that feel entirely relatable: a trading card style boom leads to TJ becoming a rags to riches tycoon, swinger girl who always swings trying to do what all kids did and reach the other side leads to a tale about things we can't explain when she seemingly dissapears, a simple punishment leads to TJ"s teacher psychologically torturing him, a fake swear word leads to an ENTIRE COURT CASE, all stuff that's somehow realistic. The show's premise was a tool box that allowed them to tell a ton of diffrent stories, a lot of which with really adult, meaningful lessons, and the show never really got old. It only ended because Disney's attempts to continue it simply didn't work out and even with the 5th grade eps as an epilogue, it has a hell o a finale in the movie. The whole run's on disney+ and I.. really need to revisit it.. and to review it next year if possible.
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2. The Owl House Created by Dana Terrace 2020-2023 3 Seasons, 43 Episodes
Let's face it even if the article image hadn't tipped my hat here.. this one being high up .. was a given. I've gushed about this show at length, covering it as season's 2 and 3 ran out, written fanfiction on this blog, and since I started doing them the show's always ranked decently on my 20 best animated episodes lists I do each year, and will likely have a spot this year for the finale. My love of this show is something I don't remotely hide and have no reason to. So it being #2 on this list is an obvious pick.. but one i'm happy to be obvious with. In fact with these last two their pretty nearly tied in my heart and it was one inching out the other.
And the weird thing is.. I didn't even watch all of season 1. I watched the first half much as I could, but while I liked it I didn't get really heavy into it. The characters were charming, the designs great and it was nice to have a show where Wendy Malick was not only voice acting, but had a MAJOR role that really let her show off her chops. I've always loved her and it was a lot of fun to get a roll this good. It was also nice to have Alex Hirsch back. The show wasn't without style, a compelling lead, a hell of a romantic arc or other attractions.. but it wasn't till later in season 1 when classicsl ike encahnting grom fright and the finale REALLY made the show into what it became.
This lead to season 2.. which is one of the best seasons of television i've ever seen, and tha'ts with the fact that halfway through they had to massively reorganize the plot to fit into 10 episodes and 3 specials, something that's only really noticable in hindsight. And i'm not hyperbolizing: the show was good before.. but season 2 enriches everything, giving the characters more depth, paticuarlly king who goes from an afterthought in season 1 to the emotoinal core of the season and Alex Hirsch's best roll... which given Stan above says a LOT. Season 2 takes the foundations of the show and really plays with them, with pretty much everyone getting a deeper character, the school stuff forced into season 1 downplayed into just showing up as needed, allowing for way more story freedom and belos increased presence and hell of a true self reveal giving us one of Disney's greatest villians. Add in hunter as a new main cast member and best good soft boy, and you have a riviting saga that kept me enthralled the whole season. Even the weaker episodes add something, and the result is something that can't be topped: a show tha'ts funny, heartfelt, unmistakably queer and unquestionably well crafted.
It also managed to pull off one hell of an ending, not only introducing my murder child who learns his lesson the collector, but doing so with only three specials to wrap up what they shoul'dve had a season to. It's a show that like Gravity Falls before it is bound to really shake up animation and influence many a show to come an dI can't wait to see the results. A true epic about finding yourself, religious indoctrination and eldrich owl and tube shaped parasites, this show is something that may never be topped and was an utter joy while it lasted. Hoot.
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1. Ducktales Based on DuckTales by Jim Magon /Uncle Scrooge by Carl Barks Developed by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones 2017-2021 3 Seasons, 69 Episodes Like #2... #1 is a show my love of has been transparently obvious: Covering season 3 started this blog, i've covered seasons 1 and 2's story arcs, and done a ton of other duck stuff from a full three cabs retrospective, to donald shorts to the very duck adjacent goofy movie. While I haven't done as much duck content this year, a shame really, and still need to finish my life and times retrospective some day... my love of Disney's Ducks has been something i've had since college and this series not only revitalized it but sent it into the fucking stratosphere with the gold standard for reboots. DuckTales is the only show here based on an existing IP, but still manages to be super creative with it. Matt and Frank took nearly 100 years of Duck stories (not hyperbole, Donald turns the big 1-0-0 himself next year), taking from the legendary barks comics, the worthy successor rosa comics, the giant pile of European duck comics, the shorts, the movies, anything Donald , Scrooge or the Boys had been in, every bit of the disney afternoon, and everything else they could shove in to creat the defintive duck universe: Something that fully and lovingly respects what cames before but uses it all to create something fresh and wholly it's own. The cast is a nice mix of reinventions of old characters and brand new ones just as good if not even better.
This can be seen well with the core cast: Scrooge only gets changed slightly, but those slight changes were BADLY needed: Scrooge is still a guy with flaws: he can get far too focused on the goal ahead and not the human cost, is egotstical as all hell, and disconected from the common person. He can raid a tomb better than anyone, sorry Indy and Lara, but god help him if he tries doing an interview or produce a film. It's a nice ballance: he's out of touch and crotchety as usual, but far less of an abusive asshole. It's also clear that while the bin stores a lot of his treasures, and he won't take one if it's owners need it, being more than happy to give Djinn his family's lamp for instance, with it only being a whole thing because Louie sold it. It paints him more as a historian than a theif and robber baron, while still keeping the nice flaws that make him who he is: he's still cheap, he just won't underpay his staff and in fact mostly recurits people other employers give up on for being too weird.
The rest of the cast is given a more extensive but needed overhall: My boy Donald is less of the likeably selfish ass he usually is, instead a loveable dad who still destroys everything he touches, but spends the first two seasons living entirely for his kids. He's more mature while still being the idiot we love.
Everyone else.. is a huge change as I said. The biggest and best.. is the boys. Usually Huey, Dewey or Louie are a hive mind of goody goods.. or obnoxious boys. Depends on what the story needs. It always annoyed me that when you have three characters there their not at all distinct and there's no real need for them. Thankfully the creators of this show understood that and thus evolved the boys into three seperate people: Huey is more like the barks comics versions, a junior woodchuck, close to his mom and uncles, and exitable.. but with a nice fine pace of neurodivergence and anxiety that not only makes him relatable to me but a fairly likeable kid: one scared of change but with all the potetial in the world. Dewey takes ab it after the more sterotypically 80s moments of the boys in the show, being a rad dude with a penchant for acting out.. but instead of a sexist bully or jerk like the boys could be, Dewey is a pure theater kid who badly wants attention and has no impulse control. He's basically Hank Venture , age 12 and i'm here for it. Finally Louie takes the boys more scheming moments from the comics and shows and boils it down into a gen z slacker who wants to work smater not harder, and not work at all if needed, who evolves from heartless lazy schemer and evil triplet to a keep observer whose just mildly shady.
While the barks 5 are all acounted for we also get nice overhauls for the ducktales three original core characters: Webby gets the best, going from just "small baby child babY" to a hyperactive girl who is easily near scrooge's level in adventureeing.. but has no idea how to socalize and still loves sparkles. She's empathetic, brave, and a contrast to what woudl turn out to be her old man: instead of growing to shut people out , she starts out badly wanting to let everyone end. Beakley likewise gets a glow up from "old lady stertotype whose constantly flustered" to "badass british former secret agent, only sane man and gender swapped brock sampson" , with Launchpad being made a loveable doofus, but still compitent since Donald's here to be the everyman.
The cast.. only gets better as it goes: Ducktales took a huge leap and decided "Hey what ABOUT the triplet's mom" turning della from a question mark that was answered all of once across nearly a century.. to a character just as vallad as her brother and uncle who have said near century on her: Della is Donald's opposite: brave, confident.. but a mess herself and stuck on the moon for half the series. Paget Brewster does a phenominal job.
I emphasise the series characters.. because tha'ts it's heart: it has solid plots, revamps and what not.. but it's a giant, instnatly loveable cast of characters: The side cast is MASSIVE pulling from all over duck history: Fehtry makes his debut, Gladstone is taken from easily one of my most hated characters in the comics to a far more loveable schister, Rockerduck finally debuts, Glomgold is turned from "Scrooge but evil" to someone badly trying to copy scrooge and the most glorious weirdo in all of fiction. Seriously Keith Fergusons glomgold is fucking majestic, and while he's never really a major threat his overinfalted ego, lack of planning, obessions with sharks and bombs and general haminess made him one of the best parts of this. You also get Magica as a genuine threat , and a mess later, Scooge's parents having a more active roll, Fenton having more of his own personality and weird swing for the fences complete and utter makeovers like Doofus Drake going from doofy kid to a very weird child who needs therapy, Donald's neighbor nemisis being his therapist or taking the zombie from voodoo hoodo, one of th emost racist and questionable things in duck comics history.. and instead making him into an unstopable juggernaut frankenstein curse ont he rich.
And of course the original cast.. is impecable. My adopted Daugther Lena is the clear standout, having covered her whole story arc on here and loving the character a lot, A cool teen TM who ends up being a traumtized girl badly needing a home, her stoic and neurodivergent sister violet, the egon to her venkman, fuckboy Mark Beaks, great final boss Bradford, gay icon Storkules, gay icon Selene, everyone's least faviorite dick Zeus.. I really coudl go on for some time and easily could but this article has taken a while. The show just had a knack for memorable loveable characters and making this world feel truly alive and humungous and scope, with gorgeous art designs.
It also had a great throughline, with Scrooge going from a man who pushed everything a way.. to the man who truly has everything, everyone growing along the way, and a finale that while a bit messy and leaving us hungering for more, really got to the hart of the show: a family that comes together after being torn apart and adds a LOT to them. It's a show unlike any other, and was truly the dream of a life time.. and I coudln't put anything else at #1. Thanks for reading.
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thechaseofspades · 1 year
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I always thought “DuckTales” ended too soon. We could’ve seen more of Violet’s dad. Whatever they had planned for Negaduck, and they could’ve bought Poe (Magica’s brother) into the mix making him and Magica co-big bads of a hypothetical S4
Hey so I accidentally did the thing again where I wrote like 500 words. Apparently I have strong feelings about this, so bare with me. Or don't. Either way works. But big thanks for the inbox! I really do appreciate it.
I really try to be happy with what we have, because Ducktales is my absolute favorite show and nothing's gonna ruin that for me.
But, yeah, being critical for a moment, the show ending early really messed with everything. Suddenly the large cast was fighting for a rapidly shrinking amount of screen time, and arcs had to be rushed or minimized to fit the overarching plot. It wasn't a great situation.
Like, it's not Owl House bad, where entire concepts need to be squeezed down into one or two scenes, or even montages. But the difference is that the Owl House seems to be managing that crunch a lot better than Ducktales did.
Again, the cast being as big and fleshed out as it is, it's hard to divvy up a 22-episode season where everybody gets adequate time and also wraps up their story in a satisfying way. But the DT crew decided to just keep adding and adding and adding. This was supposed to be their biggest season ever. Several ideas were thrown onto the screen and then not followed up on because there just wasn't time for it.
"Astro B.O.Y.D." is my favorite episode of Season 3. And not to diminish that fact, but does any of it get followed up on? I don't think we saw Boyd once until the finale. We just didn't have any time for that.
Bringing Poe in for "Life and Crimes" is an interesting concept. But why are you introducing that A WEEK BEFORE THE SHOW ENDS, especially if it will have pretty much zero impact on anything else.
May and June didn't even get to exist for longer than an episode. You're bringing in pivotal characters in the series finale?
Negaduck! Where was he? Oh, they couldn't fit him in the show! My point exactly.
*deep breath in* *deep breath out*
I have no doubt that the DT crew put these elements in as a love letter to the past. It's very neat that they would do that, and it introduces a younger person like me to these great characters. But it just leaves us asking these sorts of questions. Leaves us wishing we had more than just one episode, or even just one scene.
I get that Disney is weird about shows having three seasons, but I still to this day don't understand why Ducktales couldn't be an exception to that. It's a reboot of the show that made DTVA, but better. It introduced so many legacy Disney characters to a modern audience and was well-received pretty much anywhere you looked. Everyone involved loved working on it and probably would have kept doing so for as long as possible. Not only did they have more stories to tell, but they clearly wanted to tell them. I just... I don't understand it.
Amphibia ended because the story being told was over. The Owl House is ending because it's too gay. But Ducktales ended... just because.
If Disney green lights six DT17 spinoffs for D+ covering each team's post-canon adventures, I will upgrade to ad-free Hulu.
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shychick-52 · 1 year
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Happy Anniversary 'Astro B.O.Y.D.'
More of me on my bullshit. Well, I did say that I'd be reposting my older analysis posts (from my defunct blog) about my favorite DuckTales episode 'Astro B.O.Y.D.' in honor of May 2, 2023 being its third anniversary. Over the past few days, I've been doing just that, finishing up with this one.
I just want to focus on the greatest scene in the whole series, which even gives Della reuniting with her kids a run for its money...
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I can't talk enough about how INCREDIBLE the emotion is here. The way Gyro just fell to his knees when he embraced Boyd. How tightly he embraced him. How tight his eyes are closed, as though he's struggling to hold back tears (and it was totally a missed opportunity for him to have tears here; that would have been the icing on the cake). The lighting, deliberately done to really highlight the significance of the moment. And the pure sentiment in his face- it's so amazing just how flipping much they were able to convey in that single expression:
Emotional/mental exhaustion.
Overwhelming relief that in learning the truth about both their pasts, he'd all-at-once been freed from twenty years' worth of demons.
Paternal relief that this poor, innocent child's been freed from Akita's enslavement and corruption
Paternal pride that Boyd was able to break free of Akita's programming.
Remorse and grief that Boyd's suffered as much as him, if not worse (losing his child-like innocence to a power-hungry madman twice, being lost and alone for so many years as he's been reprogrammed by countless ignorant people who probably never cared about him and only saw him as a machine to be used and abandoned as they saw fit- heck, his second-to-last owner Mark Beaks found him at the dump- never being free to live his own life and make his own choices, and always being misunderstood and feared as a dangerous, evil robot by everyone). And for being so blind to his former mentor's treachery all those years ago, blind to the fact that it should have been obvious all along that Akita overwrote Boyd's 'real boy' programming and turned him evil. And for all the wasted years Gyro spent embittered and cynical, the best in him destroyed by Akita, blaming both himself and poor Boyd.
A deep, heartfelt apology.
A promise to always be there for him from then on and to do better by him.
And of course, love (and I honestly believe at this moment he realized that he truly saw Boyd as his son, that they were a family, how much they were part of each other, and how much they absolutely needed each other).
Gyro and Boyd. Both always so wildly misunderstood, both always suffered for what Akita did to them.
Boyd was Gyro's first sentient creation, but not the first to go evil (and I've said it before, but I so believe Gyro's history of inventions turning evil ever since the Tokyolk incident was really a psychological effect of his own deep insecurities from both Akita making him feel like a worthless failure during his internship and leaving him to think the original Tokyolk incident was his fault). The third season of the show was about "Legacy", according to Frank and Matt, and I believe that this episode was about Gyro's legacy. That he learned he's more than just the dangerous, mad scientist and failure he and so many others believed him to be, that he's truly capable of creating amazing things... and Boyd is his legacy, his greatest creation, his son, his 'first-born'.
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(Again, look at the use of lighting, highlighting the sentimental moment! And I LOVE that Gyro was clearly not embarrassed to show even more public affection here!)
I like to see these scenes as the foundation of their future relationship, and a future of change, healing, and moving on for both of them together (including Gyro learning to become a better, happier person- and I totally believe Boyd immediately forgave him, which would help Gyro learn to forgive himself and learn to be the family Boyd deserves).
I have other posts analyzing stuff from this episode, but I'll save those for later. Actually, I plan to make a pinned post linking to all my 'Astro B.O.Y.D.' posts.
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